Thin film resistors (TFR) are often used in semiconductor devices (e.g., integrated circuits) that perform analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversions. It is important for the TFR to provide a precise resistance with small variability from one TFR to the next. To be conducive to the high packing densities desired in the semiconductor industry, it is also important that the TFR have scalable submicron dimensions (e.g., about 0.35 micron or smaller dimensions). The resistivity of the TFR can be controlled by selecting the material of its resistive body (e.g., selecting doped polysilicon or metals) or by adjusting the size of the resistive body. As device dimensions decrease, polysilicon resistive bodies are being replaced by smaller-sized metal resistive bodies.